New Sewer Line Fee Frustrates Scottsville Residents

A group of residents in Scottsville are voicing their frustrations after being charged for usage of a sewer line they aren't even using.

It was a sewer line project that cost the city nearly $700,000 but when construction began last year residents got more than they bargained for when it created a 22 foot hole on Christian Drive.

"It's been a problem since day one. We didn't have a problem with them running the line through but when they started causing problem for the neighbors, they couldn't get through with the big cavern that you could fit a semi-truck in, and they didn't safely cover it for the children in the neighborhood, that's what our big stink was about," says Jamie Perretta, a resident of Christian Drive.

Residents say the 22 foot hole is no longer the problem its the sewer line that lies underneath that has become a problem for the wallets.

"Now it's become where everyone has to pay a usage fee for a line that we are not even hooked up to," says Perretta.

"Never ever in the 19 years that we've lived there had a water bill that high not to mention were paying for the sewage that we don't even have hooked up. We have a septic tank," says Libby Stinson, a resident of Jackson Street.

They are being charged a usage fee which equals up to be the same amount as their water usage, doubling the overall price of their bill.

Mayor Rob H. Cline says a ordinance that dates back 50 years states they have to pay the fee.

"They still if it's available within 100 feet they have to be charged," says Mayor Cline.

As for the increase to the water bill...

"We we're $800,000 negative in the sewer department. By law we have to have a balanced budget each year. The rates of this city has not been raised, water or sewer, since 94, so we had to raise our water and sewer rates to substantiate our budget," says Mayor Cline.

Some say the cost is still too high for a service they are not using.

"When you go from having a water bill that's $100 to $300 that's a big difference, and there's people in our neighborhoods that are on fixed incomes and they can't afford this kind of stuff," says Stinson.

A few residents of Christian Drive and Jackson Street plan to petition the fee.

Mayor Cline says he apologizes and knows the increase in fees can be tough but he did what he had to do to keep the budget balanced.

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